Unexpected Heroes
by Robin the Ylissian Grandmaster
Summary: One hundred years have passed since Calamity Ganon defeated the five champions, but Zelda has managed to keep him trapped in Hyrule Castle while Link recovers. But Link has yet to awaken from his long slumber and Zelda's power diminishes with every moment that passes. An Unexpected Hero arises to take the title of the Light of Hyrule and defeat Calamity Ganon once and for all.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

The heavy fog cracked apart and a tall figured clad in black tunic and russet trousers pushed through the parting curtains raising his blazing torch in the shadowy twilight that hung over the forest. The koroks and fairies scattered in a panic around the base of the Great Deku Tree as the new Hylian entered the grove, approaching the pedestal of the goddess's sword. The Hylian that strode into the grove so casually, unaffected by the maze-like barrier that was meant to rebuff all unwanted visitors and protect the Master Sword as it mended, was not one of the people they expected to return. He snuffed out his torch on the ground before he stepped up to the pedestal, giving the sacred sword a look of admiration.

Before he could try anything, the Great Deku Tree called out to the intruder, "Who dares disturb the resting place of the Master Sword?" the rumbled.

The intruder did not even flinch in reaction to his sudden address, he merely smiled back at the tree and responded, "My name is Phillip of Holodrum. My family fled Hyrule during the calamity one hundred years ago, but I have returned to reclaim honour for my family and become the true Light of Hyrule to destroy Calamity Ganon once and for all. Hyrule's future is at stake, I need this sword to correct the mistakes of those before me and protect the people of my fatherland."

The Great Deku Tree looked upon the bold Hylian with disbelief, the fact that he reached the grove on his own was incredible, but someone other than the current chosen hero being audacious enough to try and wield the Master Sword for only a selfless purpose gave him a new view on the Hylians as a people. "Regardless of your altruistic ambitions, you are not worthy of such a consecrated power nor are you the hero destined to seal Calamity Ganon away to the realm of darkness. Begone, brave Hylian, this is not your destiny, the Chosen Hero has yet to re-emerge from his long slumber and any attempt to draw the sword would only deplete you of your valuable life force."

Phillip smirked, "The Chosen Hero, eh?" he scoffed. "I saw your hero, he's nowhere near ready to face Ganon. Zelda can't hold him back much longer, she told me so herself, and gave me the Sheikah Slate to follow," he pointed to the odd tablet hanging next to a katana on his belt.

"Impossible…." The Great Deku Tree rumbled lowly.

"Not my destiny you say though?" he asked rhetorically. "Screw destiny, only those that work hard are worthy of achieving greatness and I write my own future," the Hylian retrained his focus on the Master Sword, "I choose to sacrifice my life to be the hero that the people need." With his right hand, he grasped the hilt of the Master Sword but immediately staggered in pain as a Triforce emblem burned itself onto the back of his hand holding the sword in a death grip. "And I refuse to give up after all that I have done to get here because of some silly destiny barrier." Using his other hand as well, he began to pull the restored blade from the earthy dais slowly, releasing light throughout the grove from its base.

The koroks and fairies paused in their panic to watch the strange swordsman pour all his strength into extricating the blade from the pedestal. The Great Deku Tree could only look on in disbelief as blinding light flooded all corners of the grove when the Sealing Blade broke free of the stone grasp that had held it for the last century, proving the impossible to be possible and setting a new course for history. At first, the new hero staggered back with exhaustion letting the sword-point to dip towards the ground, then he stood up straight raising the sword above his head easily for the onlookers to observe in awe.

 _A new era has begun for Hyrule_ , thought the Great Deku Tree, _one that I have high hopes for a bright future_.

Chapter 1

Phillip Gerhard hated the desert. More importantly, he hated the heat, and the sand. He also loathed himself for deciding to try and directly cross the Gerudo Desert to get to Central Hyrule. Sure, he was hopping from one oasis to another, but the few days spent travelling between each one with heat of the day and cold of the night was nothing short of hell. Going North to the mountains of the Highlands after crossing the border seems like a better route now rather than trying to take a short cut through the desert.

The city walls of the sprawling Gerudo city could be seen not too far off in the distance and it came closer at a painstakingly slow pace that made the heat seem worse than it really was. A night or two in a town filled with the beautiful Gerudo women would be a refreshing and pleasing experience after such a harsh two weeks of drudging along in the desert. _A brief break in my quest to save Hyrule_ , he thought to himself as he brushed his sweat-soaked red hair out of his eyes.

During the calamity one hundred years that saw the champions of Hyrule slain by Calamity Ganon and most of the kingdom devastated, his great grandmother fled with his young grandfather to the neighbouring kingdom of Holodrum while his great grandfather died fighting alongside the Hero Link. When Phillip was old enough to hold a training sword his grandfather had a master swordsman from a far-off island nation teach him how to use the Gerhard treasured katana. By the time he was twenty-five, he could defeat his teacher and most knights in the kingdom; he had also decided on what to do for his life journey. He had heard stories growing up of how the five champions of Princess Zelda failed to uphold their only duty of protecting the realm from Ganon and were defeated. He didn't want to believe that the best warriors of Hyrule, including the chosen knight, Link, would lose so easily without a hard fight. Whether or not they did, it did not matter to him anymore and Hyrule needed saving, so he set it as his life journey as a master swordsman to surpass the tasks that have been left undone by the champions and completely destroy Calamity Ganon once and for all.

As Phillip approached the Northern main gate to the massive, walled town, he could clearly see two guards posted that were scantily dressed in local garb, leaving little to his eager imagination, but armed with pikes and equally sharp scowls. This race of warrior women definitely took their security seriously, he could glimpse several armed ballistae on the sandstone palisade that most likely had their teams close at hand.

"Hello, ladies," he said smoothly as he tried to pass between the guards only to be barred by crossed pikes.

"You there, Halt!" growled one of the sentries, who was much older.

"No _voe_ allowed in Gerudo Town!" chimed in the younger one.

"No what?" he stared questioningly at the one that spouted the foreign phrase.

"' _Voe_ ,' it means 'male' in our language, and _voe_ are not permitted within the town's walls. Who knows what a single _voe_ could do if we let you into a city filled with only _vai_ ," the first guard glared at him with dull gold eyes. Phillip didn't need an explanation for what the second foreign term meant, so her ire was not without reason but it was absurd to completely ban men from the town.

"A bit ridiculous don't you think?" he asked raising his hands in surrender and backing away from the gate. The first guard did not like his response as she proceeded to thrust the butt of her pike into his stomach, knee him in the chest as he doubled forward, and physically threw him into the sand writhing in pain. The blows did not seem to damage anything thanks to the chainmail under his black tunic but it still hurt like hell and wounded his confidence.

The second guard was shocked by the first's sudden outburst and immediately rushed to the subdued Phillip to help him up, "Are you alright? I apologise for how impetuous and rude my colleague is, please forgive us," she asked eagerly.

Phillip gratefully accepted her helping hand to stand up and catch his breath while she went on to dust off the sand from his cloak and readjust the two sheathed blades on his belt. "Thank you miss-"

"Victoria," finished the kind Gerudo.

"Thank you, Miss Victoria, you are truly a blessed flower in this dreadful desert," he smiled when he saw a blush form through her sun kissed complexion. "Well I should have expected a rough greeting from world renown warrior women, but I sincerely apologise for any offence I have made and my ignorance of Gerudo Law," he courteously expressed with a bow which received a smile from Victoria and a sneer from the other guard. "I merely request that my supplies be refreshed before I continue on my way to Hyrule," he appealed kindly to both of them.

"Shove off, you damned Hylian. Your kind are not welcomed too warmly in this region," answered the rude one. "Come on, Victoria, back to our post."

The rude one moved back to the city gate but Victoria shrugged off the order, "If you follow the road here, you will reach Kara Kara Bazaar by nightfall in a few hours, I will meet you there tomorrow on my day off if you wish to get further directions." Her spontaneous compassion was startling and it confused him at first, but then he noticed her iridescent gold eyes that oddly seemed to put his concerns to rest.

"Thank you again, I will most certainly wait for your arrival," he dipped his head in a bow. "Farwell for now, Miss Victoria."

"Farwell, Sir-"

"Phillip, and I am just a vagabond swordsman on his quest for adventure, no knight," he replied.

She returned a bow as he turned to follow the sandy road to the bazaar in the sweltering heat. He could overhear the unnamed sentry scoff at the affectionate exchange between the two young warriors, but he didn't bother in wasting time to answer in a far less pleasant retort. He would have to return one day so he could find a way to break into the anti-male bastion of a city.

It was half an hour down the road when Phillip noticed that he was being stalked by several desert creatures, Lizalfos by the few glimpses he caught over the ridges. During a water break, he made sure to unsling his bow from his shoulder and retrieve two arrows from his quiver. It irked him that he traversed most of the desert without mishap only to be ambushed so close to Hyrule, though he should have expected as much.

By the time the sun started to set, he had counted over two dozen of the giant lizard marauders and he could sense their impatience by their frequent movements on the crests of the ridges. They probably would ruin their own ambush with their overexcitement and lose more of their comrades than they anticipated.

The oasis bazaar came into view no too far away, and a warband of Lizalfos exploded out from behind the sand dunes on all sides. The first two each fell to arrows catching them in the faces in rapid succession and collapsed in bloody messes.

Dropping his bow, Phillip drew his katana in time to knock aside a javelin thrust from his left side and returned a downward stroke, cleaving the unarmoured chest open with a sickening spray of blood. The remaining Lizalfos charged in, snarling out of frustration and wildly swung their assorted weapons in hope of striking true. He winced in pain as he deflected a sword blow with his left vambrace and narrowly dodged a spear thrust. The fight turned into a wild brawl as the bandits mobbed Phillip in attempt to strike him down. Dodging and parrying dozens of blows he looked desperately for openings that he could swiftly strike deadly hits. The fight drifted all across the road between the two ridges in a manner that resembled a chaotic dance of life and death. He began to gain confidence in his luck as he slayed two monsters in a brief pause of the onslaught. As the shifting assault progressed for more than half an hour, several of the attackers fell to strikes under their overstretched guards and swift retaliations to parried blows.

The Lizalfos backed away warily after seeing so many of their allies slain while Phillip was only afflicted with minor cuts and heavy breathing, it seemed to demoralise the bandits and he could see the fear in their inhuman eyes. Seeing as the odds were most definitely in his favour, he drew his wakizashi so he could finish the fight quickly; raising the wakizashi and guarding with the katana against the circling predators, he eyed each opponent trying to guess who would strike first. "Come on, you bastards, lets finish this!" he shouted, his blood pumping for action. An axeman (axe-lizard?) charged first followed by one with a claymore, he subdued them in a drawn-out duel of dodging and stabbing. He stepped over them to attack a cluster of three others that cowered in fear that didn't last long as the three fear-paralysed creatures joined their comrades in the gory mess soiling the sand. Four of the nine survivors fled at the sight of the wild swordsman spattered in their comrades' blood. The last five brave aggressors flanked around Phillip for their final assault.

The leader of the group gestured and vocalised something to the others who complied by rushing their target mercilessly. The first three fell swiftly, but the fourth managed to deflect all of Phillip's attacks and stood just out of reach. Then the realization hit him just as he noticed the sneak attack from the leader that entered his peripheral vision; fear clouded his mind as he mostly dodged the downward stroke but his leg was still caught in a gap of his greaves. He fell to one knee, holding back a cry of pain and swelling tears, and thrusted the shorter sword into the neck of his assailant. Seeing his leader collapse like the others, the last Lizalfos fled rather than meet the same certain fate as his captain.

Despite his eagerness earlier, Phillip was grateful for the rationality of the last one to abandon hope for victory. He sat on a dune and surveyed the battlefield as the sun sunk below the horizon, the world entering a moonless twilight that enveloped the bloody sand dunes in shadows. "Damn, I left too many openings," he thought aloud as he cleaned the crimson stained blades. _If this is the best I can do then I'll never save Hyrule from its demise_ , he thought as he limped down to the combat zone to loot the monsters for spoils of war and continue down the road to the bazaar.

When he limped through the entrance to the oasis bazaar, his wounded appearance caught the attention of several merchants that were closing up shop. The last thing that Phillip remembered before he collapsed from blood loss and heat exhaustion was a Hylian and Gerudo rushing towards him.


	2. Chapter 2: An Unexpected Partner

**A/N: Hey all of you amazing people, Robin here, thanks for picking up this fanfiction and I am so sorry for such a late update and for not really doing an introduction last time. I was pretty eager to publish the last chapter that I completely forgot to write up an Author's note, but I remembered to do so this time. I just wanted you all to know that this is a passion project that I've been working on since day one of the game's release, a lot of that time has been spent doing a hell of a lot of research, in game and on wiki sources, constructing plots, developing character attributes, and world building for all that's going on outside what is detailed in the actual game. As for how late this chapter is, I am really sorry again, I had planned to publish it back in August but college and starting a new job distracted me but did not deter me. Fret not, I do plan on continuing beyond this chapter, chapter three is on the way. Please enjoy this late update!**

Chapter 2

Phillip awoke to afternoon sunlight hitting his face through a tent flap that was carelessly left ajar. Shifting in the cot made him aware of a throbbing sensation in his lower left leg, reminding him of the event that unfolded last night. He slowly sat up rubbing the grogginess out of his eyes and moved his feet over the edge of the cot onto the sandy floorboards. He was still wearing his black tunic, but his chain mail and other armour pieces were missing, and his trousers had been replaced with a new pair. At first, he noticed the bloody bandage around his left shin and the empty cot that was in front of him, then he noticed the elderly Hylian man rummaging through supplies in the back half of the tent.

"Ah-ha, here it is," the man exclaimed as he pulled an extravagantly jewelled dagger out of a lockbox. When he turned to leave he jumped in shock of seeing his guest stirring, "Oh, you're awake! I didn't expect you to wake so soon after such a heavy dosage of healing potions I used to treat all your wounds and the poisoned laceration on your leg. You must have an outstanding immune system to survive such a close brush with death and wake up only three days after taking some of my home brewed potions."

The man's rambling only confused Phillip's still groggy mind, so he stared at him questioningly, "'Brush with Death' what do you mean? It was only a - wait! What do you mean three days?" What the man had just said finally made sense and he stood up quickly, frantically searched for his gear.

"Don't worry about your stuff, it's back here on the table, and I haven't taken anything. As for the three days, that lass that came here to meet you is still waiting here, so no need to worry," the old Hylian moved past Phillip carrying the dagger to the tent flap. "Oh, and the name is Arslan, dealer of arms and brewer of potions. Now, I'll be finishing this deal out here, you can come out when you are ready."

When the man was gone, Phillip found his gear all present on the table as promised. He sighed in relief as he drew his family's katana from its scabbard partway, then replaced it before grabbing his boots and heading towards the tent's entrance. Outside the tent was a busy trading centre filled with traders and travellers of all different races working out transactions for various goods. He was surprised to even see what he believed was one of the Rito, a birdlike race that didn't have any villages back in Holodrum. Arslan gave Phillip a nod as he passed the blanket of weaponry set out, but he continued on with his own business. Of all the people going about their business, one stood out relaxing despite the energetic hubbub of commerce. Victoria sat at the edge of the oasis pool with her feet soaking in the water, which seemed like a perfect way to endure the blistering heat of the day.

" _Sav'aaq_ , sleepy head," the Gerudo greeted as Phillip sat down next to her to remove his boots and joined in soaking his feet.

"Good afternoon," he returned the greeting. "Now why would you wait on someone you just met only to give them directions? I'm flattered, but shocked all the same."

She pushed back her long red hair and laughed in response, "I can't just abandon the person whose adventure I'm trying to join. Now that is quite the impression to make the other day, defeating a whole warband of Lizalfos by yourself and escaping Death's clutches. In just three days you've already become pretty popular with everyone I know back in Gerudo City. It's also worth to note that you've become quite a desired _voe_ as well."

Phillip unwrapped the bloody bandage to reveal a wicked scar rather than a healing wound to which he gave an impressed grunt. "Nothing I do is ever for the fame or fortune, I could care less as long as I survive. Anyways, what I did wasn't that impressive, careless at best, and I nearly died," he remarked as he absentmindedly rubbed at the scar.

"Humbleness is great and all, but you are being a little too harsh on yourself. Surviving a bandit attack is an accomplishment in of itself," Victoria placed a hand on his shoulder as she stared at him with alluring golden eyes. "Now, what is our destination on this grand adventure?"

"Since when was it our adventure? I thought you were a guard for the city?" He gave the woman a questioning glance.

She retracted her hand and gave an embarrassed grin, "Well you said you were an adventurer, and life as a guard is boring, so I got permission from my older sister, the captain of the guard, to join this adventure." She cheerily motioned over her other side to her pack and gear sitting ready to go.

He was surprised by her enthusiasm to prepare to join him without asking first, but Phillip welcomed the opportunity to have help and possibly make a friend. "First stop is Kakariko city for some advice, but my final goal is to defeat Calamity Ganon and restore peace to Hyr-"

Victoria cut in with a long whistle as she leaned back on her hands, "Going for the golden apple eh? Hopefully this advice you're looking for gives us skin of steel because I need to toughen up a bit before I can help you take on that monster." She looked on out into the eastern desert with a slight smile on her sun kissed face before resuming, "We'll both need to toughen up if we have any hopes to survive against the legions of monsters out there."

"Indeed," he responded. Phillip already knew that he would most likely have to fight thousands of monsters before he could get the chance to strike down Ganon, and he had hoped on it so he could refine his skills. Though unexpected, he wouldn't mind having someone to watch his back and to save Hyrule alongside with him. "You ready for the dangers that wait for us out there?" he asked looking off into the night growing from the East.

"There's adventure out there with my name written all over it, of course I'm ready," she replied with a cheerful fist pump. "Oh, I nearly forgot, since we will be passing by it on our way to Kakariko city, there is a great plateau near central Hyrule that has a treasure filled shrine that I want to check out first. That is if you don't mind climbing a lot," She cheekily smiled at Phillip unaware of how enthralling her own golden eyes were to him.

How could he resist both her captivating eyes and the prospect of securing funds for his adventure, they were too tempting to forego the opportunity. "If you are fine being at the mercy of Hylia's wrath for raiding her shrine, then it sounds like a good plan."

For the rest of the evening, they spent their time at the only pub in the village-sized bazaar drinking away the evening and merrily joining in with other customers as they toasted another good day of business. Even old man Arslan joined in the festive debauchery of drinking games, tales from the adventures of travelling merchants, and a general good time, though he couldn't nearly match Phillip or Victoria for liquor tolerance. Through his inebriated haze, Phillip could see plenty of his fellow male inebriates clumsily trying to make moves on or smooth talk to Victoria and the other Gerudo, but he could only laugh when he saw the girls use it to their advantage to get free drinks.

Over the course of the evening, he picked up on a few of the stories that Victoria told about the harsh training to become a Gerudo soldier but how mundane guarding the city was compared to what she had expected. She seemed more than capable of holding her own against the dangers of Hyrule from what other Gerudo soldiers confirmed in their stories they shared together, though he never doubted. He couldn't blame her for taking the opportunity to go on an adventure that promised adventure, action, and freedom from an ordinary life. Though grateful for her company, he just hoped she was prepared to get into situations where she would have to hold up her half of the bargain of protecting each other, for he was willing to trust her and carry out his half.

As dusk wore off into night, the population of the tavern waned and Phillip could feel the effect of his many drinks dragging him down, but he couldn't head off for his borrowed bed just yet. A couple of travelling merchants that still remained at the tavern told the tale of the many monsters they encountered in the wild and how they barely escaped with their lives.

"I wath tellin' you, mate," the fatter merchant slurred as he put his arm on Phillip's shoulder, "It wath a gian' sthpider machine tha' glowed blue an' its red eye shot beamths o' ligh' an' fire. I wath runnin' for da hillths da moment I sthaw it leerin' at me." Phillip doubted the man had run a day of his life, and he doubted the story's credibility even less from such an intoxicated narrator.

"A giant spider machine you say, eh? Must have been a nightmare," Victoria remarked Phillip's same thoughts of disbelief.

"Aye, it be true," confirmed the merchant's more sober companion, "though it may not have chased us, we watched it shootin' beams of light after some other less than fortunate travellers. They were called Guardians a long time ago when they were controlled by the Royal Family."

"How do you fight off these machines?" Phillip asked, his interest peaked by the reliability brought by the second merchant.

"You can't. You just run an' hide an' pray they don't find you," the second merchant morbidly answered. Phillip wasn't really surprised by the development, but he knew that nothing could be completely impossible to defeat _. I will have to find a weapon strong enough to deal damage against the Guardians, and I probably will have to study them a lot to properly formulate a strategy for the fight,_ he thought to himself while spacing out from the conversation.

"I see that look on your face, Phil," Victoria grumbled, pulling him from his thoughts. She was glaring directly at him while downing her entire pint of beer, "I haven't even known you for very long, but I can already tell that there is something buzzing together in that brain of yours." She called another refill before continuing on her point, "Don't go getting us killed so soon by messing with those Guardians, you hear?"

"Of course not, I wouldn't dream of it," he replied nonchalantly.

"Now cheer up!" she jokingly slapped Phillip on the back. "One last drink before we turn in for the night! We have an early morning tomorrow."

"How could I refuse such an offer," he called the Gerudo bartender to top off his drink and joined Victoria in a toast before finishing both their drinks. After that, Phillip couldn't remember much other than Victoria helping him take a passed out Arslan back to his tent and both of them parting ways to their accommodations for the night.

The Next Morning, Phillip woke up before the sun completely rose above the horizon despite the massive headache he had from all the drinking the night before. He made quick work of dressing completely and packing all his gear that had waited untouched on the table. When he tried to pay Arslan for all of his expenditures, the old Hylian just rejected the offer telling him that the expenses were covered by the weapons, armour, and loot recovered from his fight. Arslan even handed over the rupees that remained after his spoils of war were sold to cover his costs, giving him and extra one thousand rupees.

After a quick breakfast of dried meat, he found his way out to the centre area of the bazaar that was already revving up for another busy day of trading. Victoria waited for him at the same spot by the oasis pool, but this time she stood tall at the edge with her pack on her back and equipped with a scimitar, a golden hoplon shield, and a recurve bow supplemented with a full quiver. She wore what seemed to be the normal Gerudo outfit comprising of a steel breastplate, which must have been custom made to fit her perfectly, a bronze belt to hold up a combat skirt, and standard hobnailed sandals that laced up her shins.

" _Sav'otta_ , partner!" she chimed cheerfully.

"Good morning," he tried to cover the subsiding ache in his head.

"Let's not waste any time. If we leave now, we can reach Gerudo Canyon by noon and avoid the worst of the desert heat," she explained, hinting at her eagerness to leave the desert. And he couldn't agree any more, the last thing he wanted to do was to trudge through the heat while suffering from the headache of a hangover.

The surviving Lizalfos from his fight must have spread the word of how terrifying Phillip was because he could not see a single one of the marauding bastards lurking on the dunes that surround the sandy road. Victoria must have picked up on the lack of the bandits as well for she exploited the freedom from combat to drop her guard and focus her energy to dig up what she can about Phillip.

He didn't really have anything to hide from her, he was not dissatisfied by the youth that he spent training to become a master swordsman as he had made many friends among the other descendants of the Hylian refugees that were training to become soldiers. He could even say he was proud of the accomplishment he had achieved in his training, his grandfather always said he had a knack for seeing the swiftest way through a fight.

"What was it like being a refugee in Holodrum?" Victoria asked back to him as they passed the small settlement that accompanied the Gerudo Canyon Stables.

It wasn't an impossible question to answer, just complicated. "Well from what I was told, Holodrum had a very small population compared to Hyrule initially but had more territory, so resettling tens of thousands of Hylian refugees was not that difficult and the natives were extremely welcoming. Most of the difficulties that we faced were self-inflicted though. General Hideyoshi, our leader at the time, practically established us as a military state and isolated us from the people of Holodrum," he explained as he caught up to Victoria. "Hideyoshi named himself the Grand General of Hyrule, pretty much a dictator. Everyone that was a Hylian was conscripted into the Hylian army for a time at some point in their life, even I couldn't avoid serving my three years. Hideyoshi's successors, Pershing and Cadorna, didn't let up on their policies either."

Victoria looked on at him in curiosity from my last sentences, "This is all in preparation to take back Hyrule? It sounds like a power grab for the throne of Hyrule is their true purpose rather than saving the kingdom."

"Which is why I finished my three years and discharged from the army," he commented while taking the lead to scout out the canyon path.

"Well at least you're here now and not a soldier, your talents would be wasted there instead of actually saving the world." Phillip could only look back at her curiously for the compliment.

"Thanks. You really like to give out compliments, do you?" he asked turning his attention to the winding canyon road.

"Well where is the fun in putting people down, besides you should stick to accepting a compliment from a cute girl like me," she said, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him playfully. Phillip scolded himself for being too stiff to his travelling companion.

"To answer your question about being a refugee, I really didn't notice anything different about my childhood, or rather lack thereof, until I was in my late teens," he did not need to see her face to recognise the sympathy she exerted as she held on to his shoulders a little longer before letting go. "Life in a military state readying for war is not something that can be described simply." The air between them grew silent as they continued down the dry, dusty road. He knew he had to fix the dreary situation, "But enough of that, what is it like to grow up to be a guard in Gerudo City? The whole 'no voe allowed in the city' has me wanting to know more."

"Ha-ha, well I have nothing compared to you because I didn't start training until I was seventeen, but I did make a name for myself in the five years since," she recounted. _Ah, so she is only three years younger than me_ , he thought to himself. "I've seen several successful battles in the war against the Yiga Clan, so you can be sure that I have experience in the field," she triumphantly proclaimed, "Maybe my achievements on this journey will garner honour and legends for myself like Lady Urbosa!"

Hearing the name of the Gerudo Champion brought Phillip to the realization that they would have to surpass the strength, talents, and skills of all five Champions of Hyrule in order to defeat Ganon. "I'm sure they will," he replied trying to sound as positive as he can against the grim odds.

Their pleasant conversation was cut short as Victoria pulled him back by his collar behind the canyon corner, out of the line of sight of the monster camp that he nearly stumbled upon unawares. She further proved her own strength as she practically threw him flat against the canyon wall on her other side.

"Watch it, Bokoblins," she whispered sternly as she leered around the corner. "I can count at least thirty of the little bastards and two Moblins. Damn, I thought Liza's company cleared this region out last week."

"What's their set up? Weapons and armour, too, if you see them," he asked, readying to formulate a strategy.

Victoria peeked around the corner again for a few seconds before withdrawing back to cover. "Two hundred metres away, they have two towers with archers on top. There is a third archer on the ground, I think, the captain has a nice broadsword and kite shield, and the rest just have an assortment of clubs and crude swords. There are some boulders on the path that we can crawl up to for better shots." They dropped their packs to lessen the load for the coming fight.

"We need to scatter them first and take out the archers first," he explained as the plan formulated the battle plan, "I have a bomb arrow so I can do the first part while you wipe out the archers, then we both rush in and eliminate as many of the subordinates while they are confused. Withdraw if they start to reorganise." She nodded silently as they both prepared their bows.

They crawled out on the dusty road out of sight towards the targeted boulders thirty metres from unaware monsters. Crouching behind his boulder, he pulled out and knocked an arrow tipped with a small bundle of high-powered explosives. He nodded silently at Victoria, who was crouching nearby with an arrow knocked and ready to shoot, before standing up, drawing back the string, and shooting the arrow into the targeted camp of clustered monsters.

The enemy didn't have time to react to his sudden presence before the bomb-arrow exploded on impact at their feet, sending them flying a few meters as they burned. The explosive power of the small bundle of black powder and flint never ceased to amaze Phillip, but the awe-inspiring fire did not faze Victoria as she jumped from cover and fired off two shots in succession without missing. Drawing only his katana, he charged onto the battlefield with Victoria close behind wielding her scimitar and shield.

Their initial slaughter of the monsters lasted around a minute as they hacked and slashed the Bokoblins that were fumbling to get to their feet and put out the fires on their bodies. Phillip was so caught up in the action that he forgot the plan for a tactical retreat until an arrow hit him in the shoulder, knocking him off his feet. The projectile luckily did not penetrate his chainmail but it was sure to leave some massive bruising.

"Time pull back a bit, Lucky Buck," Victoria called as she dragged him away from the recuperating squad. Nearly a dozen of the monsters, including the blue captain and the two Moblins, stood growling and posed to strike back.

"Thanks for that," he called to her. Throwing aside the arrow, he drew his shorter sword to prepare for the coming onslaught and his partner raised her shield to protect her barren midriff from the archer. But nothing could prepare them for an unlucky Bokoblin being thrown at them by one of the Moblins. They both shouted in surprise as they dodged the flailing bastard as it flew past them and landed head first with a painful crack and blood curdling scream. _I guess there is no regard for the safety of their comrades_ , Phillip thought while looking at the monsters flanking his side and Victoria's.

"You get the ones on the left while I get the ones on the right, agreed?" She huffed, sounding upbeat about their prospects.

"And we watch each other's backs," he nodded in agreement.

In a flash, Phillip swiped an arrow out of the air as it whizzed towards Victoria's unprotected head. "I guess we are even then, just watch that archer for now," she advised, receiving a silent nod from her ally.

Unlike the Lizalfos that he had faced the other day, these monsters did not seem to have any sense of tactics other than to overwhelm their enemy with numbers. There was not a clear battle line as Phillip and Victoria both weaved through their mobbing attackers while dodging for their lives and striking when the opportunity arose. Neither of them could avoid getting minor nicks and scrapes in the wild flurry of blades and clubs, but on a few accounts Phillip overextended himself to block fatal blows aimed at his partner's back and he saw Victoria out of the corner of his eye do the same occasionally. He was definitely thankful for her joining him.

From the brief moments that he took to study her techniques, he could tell that she was an adept fighter with an interesting style. While Phillip's own style focused on lithely dodging around attacks and swiftly striking exposed vital points, Victoria's was a balance between defence and attack. She expertly deflected blows with her shield and brutally struck her enemy while they were off balance, which proved her to be a deadly force on the battlefield.

The odds of the fight seemed to flow unopposed in their favour, the weak Bokoblins fell one after another and in a matter of minutes there was only the captain and two Moblins left. Standing back from the remaining foes, they were both breathing heavily and sweating profusely from a combination of the heat of the day and the battle, then Victoria stepped back and slipped on the blood-soaked road. The captain Bokoblin jumped the chance and tackled her to the ground into a bloody hand-to-hand brawl.

Phillip didn't have time to call out to her, let alone help her out, as the two Moblins simultaneously attacked him. The clubs that they swung at him were the size of small trees, so he dodged every swing with everything he had as a single hit could prove to be fatal. Despite the devastating and overwhelming appearance of their swings, the Moblins were relatively uncomplicated to dispatch as he pirouetted around them and cut them to ribbons with his dual-wielded swords.

Victoria didn't even need his help once he was finished, she was already sitting up against a bolder next to the corpse of the Bokoblin Captain while sipping on a health potion vial. He could not spot any indications of fatal wounds produced by the assault, but she was covered with an uncountable amount of lacerations and abrasions that were slowly healing thanks to the potion.

"Here," she held out the half empty vial in Phillip's direction, "You need it just as much as I do. It'll help with sore muscles as well." His partner was right, he could feel the blood and pain flowing from nicks between the openings in his armour, which was amplified by the adrenaline subsiding from his veins.

"Thanks," Phillip accepted the vial, tipped it up to his lips and finished the fruity liquid, "You definitely live up to the skills that you claim, thanks for keeping me alive back there."

The Gerudo woman responded with a wide, toothy smile and thankful, golden eyes that hid the weariness of combat. Slowly, Victoria picked herself up off the dusty canyon road and limped slightly towards their abandoned gear. "We should only take for spoils what we can carry easily, except you should take that shield the captain had," she gestured to the steel kite shield discarded by its fallen owner. "It would serve ya well to add some defence to your wild dance of a fighting style, dodging can only get you so far."

"It's far from being wild, more like an adaptive manner of fitting any situation. I seem to survive some dangerous situations pretty well with it, and the dodging helps add maximum effort into each swing," Phillip answered, but obliged to pick up the shield before retrieving his pack and bow. He had never picked up using a shield when he was training in his youth, and even when he had been conscripted he continued to adhere to his teacher's style, but he was interested to learn something new all the same.

"I swear, we have only been in on fight together and I've nearly had a dozen heart attacks with the recklessness that you flaunt in battle," his partner scolded playfully while pillaging through a monster's wallet.

Phillip laughed in response, he picked up a satchel full of useful potions and stored it away. "I'm the reckless one? Says the one practically armoured in the bare necessities, though I can't complain with how you look," he jabbed back with a flirt.

He received an amused glare in return, "You know, I thought you were going to be a stiff partner, but it looks like you know how to loosen up a little. Just need to get it all out of you all the time."

"And you seem to know how to be harsh too," he retorted. The camp's store of meal packs fell into the swordsman's sights and revealed a trove of non-perishable food stuffs ripe for the taking.

"Touché, my fascinating partner," was she said for the rest of the collection of spoils.

Phillip could honestly say that his journey so far was far more enjoyable thanks to Victoria's presence, though he did not have much to go off of since it was only day one. However, he still was not sure if he was okay with putting her life at risk by drawing her into the conflict that he had resolved himself to finish. He put that thought out of mind immediately, they probably had a few years before they could confront Ganon.

On the last thought, his mind drifted to the five fallen champions of Hyrule: Revali the Archer of the Rito, Chief Daruk of the Gorons, Sir Link of the Hylians, Princess Mipha of the Zora, and Lady Urbosa of the Gerudo. After one hundred years, they would surely be dead and their souls have waited restlessly all that time for their mission to be completed so they could be freed. Phillip did not want to waste any more time than he had to, the souls of the greatest warriors of all time and Princess Zelda depended on his efforts to beat the darkness.

A slap on the back snapped him back from his thoughts, Victoria had approached him from behind obviously trying to catch him off guard, "Hey, daydreamer, spacing out like that is only for when you're on guard duty. I think we're finished here, but we should go ahead and set up camp a few miles away from this place." And to answer his unspoken question, she added, "We will reach the Great Plateau in about two days after that."

He agreed full heartedly, so they gathered all their equipment and continued to follow the worn path towards the North East. Soon enough, Victoria started up some small chat, which lead to them both to sharing stories like good friends, bonded together by their life-and-death experiences in battle. Unknown to Phillip, Victoria finally felt like the chains of a dreary life were broken, all thanks to a chance meeting with an unexpected hero.

 **A/N: AYYY see what I did there with the last line? Sorry for the title pun, but it was only one part for why I chose this title for the story. Please follow and favourite if you liked this story. Reviews would be really appreciated so I can get your opinions and constructive criticism. Chapter three is on the way!**


	3. Chapter 3: An Unexpected Quest

**A/N: What's this? An update that didn't take like four months to complete? What's up everyone, Robin here with Chapter Three of Unexpected Heroes, and Happy Halloween to those of you that celebrate it. Why did this chapter take a shorter time to upload? Well most of the research I needed for it had already been done with the last chapter, and I actually went straight to work on it with no break. I think I typed about three pages the same night I uploaded chapter two. Anyway, here is Chapter Three for y'all. Enjoy! Don't forget to follow, favourite, and leave a review. (Please review they would really help improve the quality of the story. I'll answer any and all comments, questions, or concerns as soon as possible)**

Chapter 3

Victoria was pretty accurate for the estimate of their arrival at the Great Plateau, but it did not go without some mishaps. Besides nearly waking up a conveniently napping Hynox and having to chase down a few cowardly monsters that had stolen their clothes that they had just washed, the accidents were never of the lethal sorts. But there was the morning of the third morning of their journey that had started with nothing but disaster and complete awkwardness. They had agreed to give each other some distance around the fire when they slept at night, Victoria had brought along a magic item that would alert them when a monster approached so they could sleep safely, and their agreement held up. However, the night before that morning had been a chilly one and they woke up spooning together for much needed warmth, with Victoria hugging Phillip tightly to use him as a heat source.

Of course, as soon as they woke up they both skirted away from each other screaming in shock and utter embarrassment. The Gerudo was quick to apologise, feeling it was necessary since it appeared that she appeared to be the aggressor, but the swordsman only apologised in return claiming to be at fault. Nevertheless, the two adventuring partners were harshly red in the cheeks for the rest of the morning through their routines to break camp and the start of the early walk.

Before noon, the awkward two reached the opening of the canyon where the path diverged into a fork for a second time, but this time the fork had a view of the plains and forests of Central Hyrule with a shadowed, destitute castle in the distant. The right side of the path was still bordered by a rocky wall, but it had turned into carved stone that resembled the ramparts of a giant's fortress.

"So that's Hyrule Castle out there in the distance, right?" Phillip gazed out at the haunting structure of the old kingdom.

"Yeah, depressing, right?" Victoria answered sadly, but turned to the plateau's stone battlements. "This looks like a good place to start a long climb, lots of good footholds and ledges."

Just a quick glance over the towering cliffside told him that she was correct, but that still left the fact that it was probably more than a kilometre tall. "It's not an impossible climb, but I'll wager that we would be climbing for hours before reaching the top. You ready to take on that challenge?"

She did not answer immediately but proceeded to stretch in a dramatic manner to convey her response. He hoped that whatever they found on the plateau was worth the energy they would have to expend and the danger that inherently accompanied such a strenuous climb. "You can go first, there's not a chance that I'll let you take a peek under my skirt," she huffed, still a little rosy in the cheeks from the morning.

"Not a problem, partner," he replied with composure. With sturdy leather glove equipped to protect his hands, Phillip reached up onto the cliffside to start the treacherous climb.

Overall, Victoria adeptly kept up with Phillip's steady pace, and they took their breaks at reasonable times to rest their sore muscles, but they both nearly fell and died once when she accidently grabbed his ankle while reaching for her next handhold. He lost footing on both his feet and she slipped from the ledge but held on to his leg with grips of steel. He was effectively carrying both their weight and their packs by only his hands that could not keep up forever. They were too close to the finish to end up dying there.

"The ledge! Get the ledge!" he shouted through strained thoughts after what felt like an eternity. His muscles screamed at him with the extra hundred or so kilograms of Victoria and their gear weighing him down. His heart was racing in overdrive with overwhelming fear as he felt his fingers slipping and slowly losing their grip.

Luckily, she was already acting ahead and was struggling to get a good grip on the carved outcropping whilst holding onto his dangling leg for dear life. Phillip felt a reprieve from the strain as she managed to get herself stable and self-sustaining on the cliff side, but she remained close to his side and unmoving. It took him only a second of fumbling around to reach his original foothold and steady his pain-stricken body.

"He-Hey… Are ya alright?" he managed through heavy breathing but with genuine concern.

It took a minute but she answered through shock-induced heavy panting, "Y-yeah," she paused for a breath. "I'm sorry, I'm so so-"

"It's alright, we're alive," he cut her off. Gazing up, he could see the summit only a few metres away. "If you are ready, the end is just in sight. We can talk then."

Victoria only answered with a silent nod, and they both proceeded to climb up the last few metres at a more careful pace. This time, Phillip kept a close eye on his partner to ensure she could manage without his help.

When he pulled himself over the edge and landed on a grassy plain, he did not wait to turn back over and reach down to give a hand to the remaining climber. He helped Victoria up, but just the sight of how far down the ground was filled him with unexpected terror that nearly paralysed him. They both dropped their packs once they were a safe distance from the cliff and flopped onto the soft grass, exhausted beyond their physical capacities. Phillip could not help but feel an over-zealous anxiety from being near the cliffside, but resting several dozen metres away brought relief to his exhausted nerves.

The Gerudo warrior broke the silence first, "It's my fault. We nearly died and it's all my fault. I had been distracted all morning, s-so I was not payin' attention when I grabbed you instead of the wall. I'm so sorry." Her voice was full of distraught and her sobbing was clearly meaningful for her apology. "You don't need someone that's gonna hold you back and get you killed, it would be better if y-you just left me behind."

It only saddened Phillip to hear how low of an opinion she had of herself, but he could understand why she would even if it were wrong. "It was an accident, no need to treat yourself so harshly because I don't blame you at all. On an adventure like this, we can't avoid accidents from happening. We can only endure and survive what is thrown at us every day." Her sobbing subsided, for which Phillip was thankful, they had survived and that was all that really mattered.

"We need to find shelter, it looks like it's going to rain soon. The treasure can wait for the morning," Victoria managed in calmed voice. He then noticed the evening sky clouding over with the threat of rainy night.

In silent agreement, they wearily picked themselves off the ground and began to wander the mysterious plateau, which looked like it had remained untouched by Hylians for a long time. The rivers, mountains and woods appeared to be in pristine condition, with abundant wildlife unaffected by the presence of the two warriors approaching their domains. The battlements and buildings that remained were in a state of ruin and overgrown with plants, speaking of their age with the signs of a war long gone past. Even the monsters seemed to laxed, possibly due to their lack of interactions with enemies for many generations, because it took little effort from the exhausted adventurers to dispatch nearly three dozen in the two hours that they were wandering the landscape.

Eventually, they arrived at what appeared to be a massive church in relatively descent shape, meaning there were less pieces missing from the roof and the wall, but it seemed to be the most afflicted by the ancient war. A dozen or so of massive spider-like machines surrounded the church like they were abandoned there to rot following a siege of a strategic position. That merchant at the bar must have been telling the truth about those Guardians, Phillip thought to himself, and they are intimidating indeed.

"This looks like as good of a place as any to stay the night," he announced facetiously.

"Well, we will have a roof over our heads," she agreed with an exhausted smile. "And I don't think Lady Hylia would mind us seeking shelter in her sanctuary."

They were awestruck the moment they entered the cathedral by the massive statue of the goddess Hylia that loomed on the dais, showing what the wear of time and the lack of faith had given to her over the past century. Phillip had the sudden urge to pray to the goddess, it was if he had a deep connection to her that needed to be revived after such a long time, but he withheld himself doing so.

"The poor goddess, a hundred years without prayer has left the land to become a wild expanse that is harsh to all that live in it," his partner commented drearily as she scouted out all the nooks and crannies.

Phillip had rarely felt the need to seek out Hylia's creed in his life, but he suddenly felt like it was a constant part of him that guided his future since his connection to the statue. "Wild it may be, but it is the breath of the wild nature of the land that carves out the bravest and hardiest heroes to be ready for their fight against darkness."

Victoria had stopped what she was doing to stare in awe at her companion, "I took you to be a stoic Hylian with a fun inner self waiting to be brought out of its shell, but I never knew that I was travelling with a philosopher. You're just full of surprises."

He chuckled in response to her compliment, "I don't know about actually being a philosopher, but just seeing Hylia caused something to come over me. It is quite a strange sensation," he was telling the truth, he felt changed. "Back in Holodrum, most Hylian refugees had abandoned the worship of Hylia and had turned to scorning her. We believed that she forsook us by letting Hyrule fall to Ganon and exiling us from our homes, so we turned against the faith and whatever destiny was set for us to create our own future." He let that sink into the stunned Gerudo warrior. "I was no exception, but now I feel somehow reconnected, though I still reject the idea of being a subject to the goddess's fate."

His partner smiled a little before continuing the task of setting up camp, which urged Phillip to join her. "It is no surprise that you feel reconnected when in her presence, Hylians are known for their affinity to the goddess. After being away from your homeland for so long it would be easy to rekindle that affinity to her."

"Perhaps, I will have to think about it some more later," he replied, catching himself before he fully zoned out of reality. "I think I will make dinner tonight. We need a filling meal to recover from today."

"Yes! You are by far the best cook that I have ever met! A meal every day made by you would be a dream come true!" Victoria joyously pumped her fist in the air. Smiling, Phillip went about collecting wood for a campfire while his friend cleaned out the roofed area for the campsite.

The morning air was even chillier on the summit of the plateau than the base, but the two adventurers had learned to sleep on the opposite sides of the campfire to prevent an accident like the previous morning. Heavy rain had dampened the grass and the unroofed floors of the church, but the two remained dry albeit stiff with sore muscles. It was shaping out to be a normal morning in Hyrule's long Autumn.

It all hit a really weird point when Phillip noticed the old man sitting by the fire, humming an old tune while tending to the still-burning fire. He rubbed his eyes again to make sure he was not hallucinating, but the grey-bearded man was still sitting there in his worn, hooded cloak and trousers with a lantern walking staff resting beside him.

"Ah, you are awake at last," the intruder exclaimed in a booming voice when he noticed the swordsman stirring. Victoria jumped awake at the sound of his voice, "And you as well! It has been a long time since I have had visitors. It is quite the feat to climb all the way to the top here, young adventurers."

The two partners were equally wary at the presence of such old man on a plateau that was extremely hard to climb, even for someone as physically fit as they were. Unconsciously, Phillip reached out for his katana only to be stopped by the man continuing his address.

"Nothing for you to worry about with me. I'm just an old man borrowing your fire while I wait for an old friend to return," the intruder cheerfully spoke.

"How long have you been waiting? And how did you get up here?" Phillip inquired the obvious now that he was fully awake.

"Oh, I have been here a long time," he didn't even bother to answer the second question. "Now may I ask, why two young adventurers risked so much just to visit an ancient, abandoned place like this?"

Victoria spoke first this time, "To loo-"

"For the experience, sir," Phillip cut off his brash partner. "We came to seek out the great experience of visiting such a mysterious plateau."

"Oho! An admirable reason for this quest. I do say that after a nice breakfast, you should visit a certain Shrine of Resurrection that is in a cave just up the path. It is said that only those blessed by Hylia may enter, but it still is an interesting sight to see."

It didn't seem like a bad idea, they were probably going to be staying on the plateau for a while before they attempted to climb down. "Sounds like a plan, I'm starving anyway," Victoria jumped to the answer with an overjoyed attitude. There was no possibility of dissuading her from her choice even if he wanted to, so he joined his companion and the helpful old man in setting up the kitchen for a filling meal.

After a filling breakfast, the younger two campers left behind most of their gear except their swords to venture up the directed path. There was no place the elder could take their supplies that they could not find, so they entrusted him to watch for more monstrous raiders.

On the way up, they passed by a pond with a rock pillar protruding from the centre topped with a rusted sword, but decided to check it out later. Sure enough, they found a cave entrance in the side of a mountain accompanied by an overlook with a view of the plateau, the rest of Central Hyrule, and Death Mountain in the distance. Phillip could only stare in awe at how beautiful his ancestral home was and it was all new for him to explore.

Victoria eagerly led the way into the cave, which turned out to be exact opposite of what they expected. Instead of a dank and natural cavern, they were met with a carved-out tunnel with walls imbued with intricate, artistic designs and glowing crystals. The two curiously scouted a few dozen metres before they were met with a three metre drop off into a shallow pool, which was easy for them to cross over and continue on their way. They found the tunnel's end at an ancient door with an elaborate design and lock.

The Gerudo warrior sighed in disappointment with their results, sharing the same sentiments as Phillip, "I guess we are not blessed enough to enter such a sacred shrine," she shrugged off the disappointment. "Oh well, it was pretty to see at least."

"Maybe so," Phillip agreed disheartened. He rubbed a hand against the antique door just to check for any glyphs.

His touch was met with an instant glow from the cracks in the door as it began to unravel and unblock the path forward. The sudden action was accompanied with the faint whisper of a distant female voice, "Heroes marked by the goddess, I beg of you to enter the chamber and hear my appeal." It was gone as soon as it was there, but they still felt like a presence remained behind to watch over them.

After a brief moment of silence, his partner took the initiative to ridicule their host, "Well we can't refuse an offer from such a welcoming voice."

But they entered the doorway anyway, despite all the warnings that were blaring for them to retreat. The next hallway was similar to the last, except it was littered with worn crates and chest, along with a strange pedestal that glowed by the door they entered. The door on the other end was already opened, so they found themselves in a circular room with two similar pedestals by the entrance and an illuminated tub.

"There's a Hylian man in the tub, he can't be alive if he's submerged like that," Phillip observed bluntly. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked to no one in particular. Victoria merely shrugged as she peered at the Hylian teen that was only dressed in his undergarments.

In answer to his question, the mysterious voice returned, "Hear my story, adventurers. A hundred years have passed, but my chosen knight, Link, has failed to awaken and my strength is failing. I fear that I am to lose this fight against Ganon, but I cannot give up yet for the sake of my people, for those like you, my unexpected heroes, that have suffered because of my failure." Phillip could not believe what he was hearing, if this were real then that must be the voice of Princess Zelda. Everything the voice was saying described facts that indicated her identity to be that of the former princess of Hyrule. "You may turn my request down if you so wish, but I beg of you to help me, heroes marked by Hylia, you are my only hope to defeat Ganon."

"How can I help you, Princess Zelda?" the both answered simultaneously with the same enthusiasm. Phillip felt slightly embarrassed at his over-eagerness.

The voice softly laughed at their instant answer. "You seem to know who I am already, no surprise. All I ask is that you take the fight to Ganon at Hyrule Castle, but I recommend that you visit the Sheikah leader, Impa, in Kakariko city, she will be able to give you better advice on how to approach the task." A whirring noise began to emit from both of both of the pedestals near the door as two sleek tablets with handles flipped up, ready to be taken from their receptacles. "The goddess has prepared a second Sheikah Slate so you can both have one. Open up the map by pressing the power button on the side and selecting the map application, then follow the golden mark to another pedestal where you can guess what to do next. All other functions are easy to discover on your own with some exploration."

Phillip and Victoria both found themselves in awe of their new personal technology when they retrieved the offered tablets. **[Syncing to designated operator. Running diagnostics.]** the devices announced in unison with automated voices.

 **[Welcome, Adventurer Phillip Gerhard.]**

 **[Welcome, Adventurer Victoria Wilt.]**

The two could only gape in astonishment at the alien technology that new their names without being informed and showed off inventory pages that contained everything they had on their person and in their packs back at the cathedral. Soon enough, a page titled as a map appeared but remained blank except for a golden mark on the North-Eastern edge.

"Go now, heroes, I cannot stay much longer, for my endless fight with Ganon requires everything just to hold him at bay," the princess's connection to them faltered for a moment. "You must make your own path for destiny has forsaken us. Do not let that burden you, it is for me to take the responsibility of such a failure, but you should use it as freedom to choose a future that you desire to live. I must return to my fight, but if you choose to aid me, please be quick in confronting Ganon."

"Aye, Princess Zelda," Phillip and Victoria answered in unison.

Once again, the voice was gone, but the presence had disappeared as well, leaving them truly alone in the chamber of the fallen hero. The two stood there a minute in silence, awestruck by the events that had just unfolded. The Princess of Hyrule was still alive fighting the great evil, against all odds, and she had given them divine technology and directives to turn the tide of a war they were losing.

"We haven't a moment to spare, we can forego any treasure hunting for this," Phillip proudly stated. He was normally a calm and collected person, but the princess's plea had brought a fervour over him.

"Agreed, I feel kinda horrible for such intensions for coming up here," Victoria gave an ashamed smile as she nervously rubbed her neck. "The spot marked on the map doesn't look like it's too far away, we should check it out now."

Seeing the same thing on his own map, he powered off the magical device and clipped it onto a pouch next to his belted katana. Eagerly, he took the lead this time as they ran out of the shrine and onto the cliff that overlooked the plateau. With her Sheikah slate out, Victoria guided their direction down the mountain and past the temple while Phillip cut down any of the weak Bokoblins that dared to cross their path.

He could feel it in the air and he could see it in the vibrancy of all the colours, the green of the grass, the blue-green streams, and Victoria's scarlet hair that matched his own. It all seemed livelier than it had before they had spoken with the Princess, and his partner appeared to notice as well when she took in the sight of the stunning scenery. Seeing it for the first time in his life, he could immediately tell that the nature of Hyrule was more untamed than that of Holodrum, thus free to grow and reach its full potential without the need to support the demands of a huge population.

The golden marker led them all the way near the battlements on the edge of the plateau where a rock outcrop covered some sort of structure and a pedestal similar to the ones in the shrine. When they both stepped into the structure, a closer look confirmed that the stand was an exact replica of the ones that provided the Sheikah slates.

"Do you think I need to put the slate in that outlet?" Phillip asked aloud as he inspected the glowing hovel in the pedestal that was shaped like the slate.

"Your guess is as good as mine, but it wouldn't hurt to give it a go," Victoria chuckled at the strange situation.

"True. Might as well," and he did so, placing the one side in first only for it to be snatched from his hand, swivelled around, and laid down with the screen up.

"Well that answered that question," his companion remarked.

 **[Sheikah Tower activated.]** announced the slate's mechanical voice.

 **[Please watch for falling rocks.]**

"The hell? What falling rocks?" He asked again, but no answer was needed.

The earth began to shake violently as if something was welling up from beneath them, and everything around them began to shake in the same manner. Phillip couldn't help but fall back into his partner, toppling both of them onto the floor of the structure holding the pedestal. Then the boulder roof encasing the structure exploded in a flurry of flying rock and shrapnel, but the rumbling did not stop as the structure shot up into the air with the two adventurers screaming for their lives.

A minute later, things began to settle down and the floor beneath them ceased to shake like an earthquake, leaving Phillip with adrenaline and shock pumping through his veins. Victoria suffered the same conditions, but took the initiative to push him over and pick herself up with wobbly limbs, only to gasp once she was standing.

"Oh boy we are high up," was all she said with her breath now crystalizing in the frigid temperature.

Following her lead, Phillip unsteadily rose up and caught his breath at the beautiful sight that laid before his eyes. He had been able to see the landscape of Hyrule before from the battlements of the plateau, but from his new height he could see even farther, and the crisp vibrancy that he had felt since speaking to the princess doubled the splendour of the rich countryside view. His attention was caught by the towers that were rising from random locations in the distance, some closer than other, but at least one could be seen in any given direction.

 **[Distilling local information…]** claimed the Sheikah slate.

The thick stalactite that hung from the ceiling of the structure began to glow blue with what seemed like liquid characters sliding down and coalescing at an eye-shaped Sheikah emblem above the Sheikah slate's screen. A teardrop of blue aura emerged from the stalactite, relinquished its grip, and splattered onto the tablet below, yet left behind no traces of any liquid. They both took a closer look at the screen, which immediately opened to the map application, but it had a small portion filled with a defined geographical territory labelled 'The Great Plateau.'

 **[Regional map extracted]**

"So that was what this thing was for," Victoria remarked rhetorically. "Do ya think I have to do the same thing to get my map?" It was a logical conclusion, but if such a magical device could not share information with its counterpart, then it was quite disappointing.

"Maybe we can find an appilic-" he started only to be cut off.

 **[Data transfer complete]** rang out both of their tablets.

Looking at the Sheikah slate in Victoria's hand, they could see that the map updated to the version that Phillip just received. "Well that was handy. Probably meant help us work together, how thoughtful of the goddess," she chuckled lightly. He laughed along with his friend nervously as the sense realisation for how high up he was finally settled in and he tried to brush off the unexpected phobia. "Maybe we should climb up those other towers to retrieve the rest of this map, because it's so fuckin' unbelievable how detailed it is! All the way down to forests, buildings, and locations!"

"Ah ha, maybe we should figure out a way to get down from here safely first," he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. Victoria gave him a sideways glance from her focus on the vast countryside, but ignored her suspicion.

"Indeed, it's way too fuckin' cold up here for me," She quickly agreed. "But I think we should at least quickly check out those towers with the binoculars application I saw on the Sheikah slate's menu." When he brought up the named application, it immediately brought up an up-close view of whatever he pointed at with the back of the tablet. Further inspection revealed that they could mark the towers on the map with the application, but they were all far off of what had discovered via the Great Plateau Tower.

Before the two could use one of the exits on the floor to climb down the tower wall, the land began briefly rumbled and shake once more. The source caught the adventurers' attention as it enshrouded the ever-so-distant Hyrule Castle with dark, malignant aura. A shadowy, daemon-like entity emerged from the castle and circled it like shark targeting its prey.

Suddenly, Phillip could feel Zelda's presence once again, "Neither of you have the obligation to continue now that you have seen what I am keeping trapped, for you are not the heroes destined to save the world. But you are the heroes that Hyrule needs because no heart burns more brilliant or more resilient than that of a volunteer that faces danger to protect the futures of others." The dark entity dispelled and returned to the depths of the castle. "Once you have gained enough strength, free the Divine Beasts and join me at the castle to defeat this evil once and for all."

"Aye, princess, but what of the Champions? What happened to them when they confronted Calamity one hundred years ago?" Phillip asked the invisible presence.

"You saw the state that Link was in, but I have no clue as to the condition of the others. They were defeated, but whether they lived or not is a mystery. For their sake, I hope that they died fighting valiantly and not captured to be tortured for all this time," answered the princess. The swordsman could not disagree with Zelda's opinion on the fate of the champions, but he still wished that he could have had the chance to learn from them and fought alongside them. "Hurry now, my new champions, the three of us are all that stands against Calamity Ganon and my time grows shorter with each passing day."

Like before, her presence disappeared suddenly and Phillip was left alone with his adventuring partner. "Well, partner, isn't that ironic. You return home from a hundred years of exile in order to save the world and you end up getting a quest from the surprisingly-alive Princess Zelda just to do that.

He could not help but laugh a little at the situation, "You're not wrong with it being ironic." His attention was then drawn by the shivering Gerudo warrior that stood next to him. _We have to get down from here now, she won't last long in this freezing cold dressed like that_ , he thought to himself. "Now let's get the hell down from here."

Victoria silently gave a curt nod and rushed to start the long climb down to the grassy plateau field. The first step out onto the open-air side of the tower tied a sickening knot in Phillip's stomach, but he pushed the feeling aside to focus on the task at hand. Slowly but surely, they switched between climbing down the ladder-like wall of the tower and carefully jumping short distances between a few platforms in their descent. He was glad that he never froze up from his new fear of heights, although he was shaking like a leaf on a tree when they reached the ground.

Before they could make any sort of plans on where to go from there, the old man, which had met them at their campsite, flew in on a paraglider he held above his head and landed right before the two adventurers. "Oh-ho! What a situation we have on our hands, my young fellows. Towers like this one can be seen popping up all over the land and shrines like the one over there," the old man drew their attention to a black structure marked with glowing orange designs sitting on the far side of a nearby pond, "can be seen everywhere as well glowing with life." He paused a moment to take a closer look at Phillip and Victoria. "It is almost as though… a long-dormant power has awoken quite suddenly."

The two shifted slightly, Phillip could tell with just a glance that his partner did not want to explain the situation any more than he did. It was almost certain that the old man would not believe a word that they had to reason what was occurring.

"Did anything odd happen up there perchance?" the old man asked the dreaded question.

"Well we did hear a voice that gave us a vital quest of dire importance to Hyrule's future," Victoria answered with half of the truth.

"If it has anything to do with that monstrosity loitering around the castle, then I recommend against you forget about it. Only the Hero chosen by the goddess is destined to confront Calamity Ganon," he advised the two partners, only to irk Phillip.

"I find it hard to believe any of this destiny shit, it only annoys me when someone blabbers on about how something is 'not my destiny to fulfil.' If you any other advice or even a few extra paragliders like that one there to help us get off of this plateau, that would be fantastic and we could pay for them." To say that Phillip was a little annoyed was an understatement, the stress from the experience with his new fear of heights on the tower combined with his extreme dislike and distrust for destiny boiled over his temper.

Victoria was shocked to see this new side of her partner, but she stayed silent, understanding that both of them were on a little rollercoaster of emotions with everything that had been piled on them.

"Oh, you have some spunk, young one. You might have what it takes for this quest," the old man chuckled. He then pointed back at the shrine across the pond, "Alright, you want two of these paragliders? I might have a few spares, but if you want them, you will have to retrieve the special treasures within the four shrines on this plateau and bring them to the Temple of Time. Rumour tells that when you activate the shrines and towers, you can use those nifty tablets of yours to travel between them in an instant. There is your advice," the elder turned on his heel and left without waiting for a response.

"That was totally unnecessary of you to say that to him, Phil," the Gerudo reprimanded her partner.

"It certainly was, Tori. It got us what we needed," was all he said to explain himself, only to get a chagrined glare.

"C'mon, Lucky Buck, let's get our gear. It's time to finally do what we came here for: plundering and looting ancient treasures!" called out the cheerful Tori.

Taking the lead, Phillip made his way up the path to their campsite with his companion trailing behind closely with a skip in her step.

It was two days later when they returned to the Temple of Time after going on the wild side quest of tracking down the shrines on the plateau to retrieve the desired treasures. Nothing else could be said to describe the venture other than a collection of weird events that will forever perplex the two adventurers.

The sensation of being ripped apart and almost immediately reformed in a different location, otherwise known as teleportation according to the Sheikah slate, was definitely one of the weirdest experiences. It also helped out with getting up and down the tower quickly to scout out the other shrines without putting Phillip through too much trauma of climbing so high.

It was also strange that the shrines all turned out to be some sort of test that updated their Sheikah slates with runes that produced ethereal tool and taught them how to use the runes. And at the end of each test, a shrivelled husk of a Sheikah monk would bestow a spirit orb for each of them before disintegrating into dust. If the orbs were what the old man was looking for, then it was a shame because the statue in the temple reacted to their presence and offered to give them strength in return for their spirit orbs and they took the offer instantly.

Most of the treasure they found was pretty useless, aside from the four spirit orbs they each collected. However, Phillip picked up a satchel with the Royal crest that turned out to be magically enhanced to carry an undefined number of items with the weight diminished to almost nothing. With this new tool at their disposal, they repacked everything besides their potions and weapons in the new bag, abandoned their cumbersome packs, and took turns to carry the lightweight satchel.

When they returned to the Temple of time, they were both exhausted freezing from the final trek into the mountains to find the last shrine. Victoria snagged a warm cloak from the old man's cabin while he was not looking so that she could survive the subfreezing temperatures. They were caught up there the last night after completing the shrine, forcing them to put aside their embarrassment to huddle together throughout the night just to survive.

"I see you found the purpose of those spirit orbs," came the warm greeting of the old man as he approached the two adventures while they were still in a praying position before the statue.

"We're so sorry, mister," Tori responded, standing up at the sudden intrusion, "If they were what you want, then we are extremely sorry for wasting them on ourselves." She gave a deep apologetic bow which Phillip followed when he stood up.

"Oh hoho, no need to be so worried," the old man chuckled heartily. "I really just wanted to see if you were truly worthy of your quest, anything you found is yours to keep. And I do believe that I owe you these," He then pulled out two pairs of bow-like poles wrapped in cloth. "Sturdy yet lightweight, and I dabbled in a little magic to make the structures fold up inside. All you need to do is pull them apart when you are in the air to spring them into action."

One technology after another, Phillip was fascinated with all the new technology he kept acquiring on this journey. _What sort of society could have created such wonderful inventions_ , he asked himself.

"Thank you, sir!" they both said as they took their prizes.

The old man merely nodded in return with a jolly grin on his almost regal face. "Now go! Don't you have a world to save?"

Phillip and Tori both bowed in farewell before turning to continue their journey. But the swordsman still had one last question, "Who are you, by the way, you gave a vague answer last time I asked."

"I am merely a tired, old man waiting for an old friend to return, nothing more and nothing less. No need for you to worry, he will turn up soon enough. At least he should, I have a lot of forgiveness to ask for from him."

Seeing as he was probably not going to get any more information than that, Phillip took his leave to follow his partner to the battlements of the plateau. He needed to do a lot of self-motivation in order to build up the will to actually take the jump and glide to the ground below.

When the two adventurers had left the Temple, the old man turned to look up at the statue, "Are you sure those are the heroes you want, my daughter? Surely there are more, eh… suitable candidates? One is a foreigner and the other is an exiled heretic?" There was only silence in response. "Fine, I trust in your judgement wholeheartedly. They just need a lot of training and discipline to get on the same level of the champions," the old man conceded grudgingly. He then began to fade and disappeared altogether, leaving the statue of Hylia alone once more.

 **A/N: Did ya enjoy that? Yes? No? Maybe? Follow, favourite, and leave a review, I'll get back to y'all as soon as I read them. Chapter Four is currently Under way. Until then, stay Unexpected!**


	4. Chapter 4: An Unexpected Encounter

**A/N: Well what do we have here? Another update and it's been less than a month since the last one. Robin here, and I guess I might be getting good at this. Anyway, if you think that this chapter is going to be of lower quality because it took less time, don't worry, I put as much effort into it as I could, and even more time of each day to write it out and revise it. This chapter was a lot of fun to write, but it was also extremely difficult to plan out and a pain in the ass to revise. Shout out to JamesYorke and his story** ** _A Fish out of Water_** **, his work is what really inspired me to continue working on this, so you should go give his story a read because it's a wonderful Breath of the Wild novelisation. I hope you enjoy the fourth chapter of Unexpected Heroes. Follow and favourite this story if you like it. Please review to give some good criticism and feedback, it would truly help improve this story.**

Chapter 4

Flying was certainly fun, or gliding if that was what you wanted to call it, except for when Phillip looked down and saw how far down the ground was. His heart froze in his chest and he choked on a scream that threatened to overtake him. He began to shudder in fear and in turn his paraglider trembled, which caused him to lose altitude faster than his partner that was trailing behind him.

"Phil! Look up, Phillip!" Tori called over the howling wind. Her cries only fell on ears deafened by the roaring of blood pumping in his eardrums.

They had made such good progress over the last three hours due to a strong westerly wind blowing them east, though their arms and shoulders screamed with the built-up pain from climbing down the tower and flying over half a week's worth of foot travel all in one day. She had volunteered to guide them along the road, knowing that it would sooth Phillip's fear of heights, to which he had yet to admit but she knew that he was probably thanking her silently. Her partner first looked down when they had passed over a river that was the halfway point between the Great Plateau and a pair of twin mountain peaks in the distance.

"Hey, jackass!" she tried again to get his attention, but to no avail. She then swooped down next to him to match his descent. "Don't make me do this, asshole!"

Again, no answer.

"Fuck it, I want you to live," Victoria murmured to herself before giving a kick to Phillip's side. "Snap out of it, you bastard. I need you here, not in that head of yours!"

The sudden pain in his side made him scream out in total terror, but it did its job to get him to look up at the Gerudo woman whose face displayed a mixture of concern, anger, the brink of tears. Seeing the utter terror in Phillip's deep-blue eyes as they stared back at her own was a sight that Victoria would never forget for as long as she lived. She had to get him back on the ground safely before a fatal accident could occur.

"C'mon, Phillip, we're landing now. Keep your eyes on me and only me, nothing else. Look wherever on me that you want, just keep looking at me and following me," she instructed, failing to sound stern.

The young swordsman nodded lightly, taking her orders to heart as he followed her steady descent. His mind focused on the small of her back, right below the breastplate that protected her upper body, for a solid part that was not moving and hid the view of the distant ground. He did not even notice how far that they had gone like this until they were only a few metres from the ground and Tori called it to his attention.

"Brace yourself! We're almost there!" she called back to him. It would be an understatement to say that he felt relieved when took his first, albeit shaky, step onto solid earth.

"No need to go any farther today. We can camp here tonight and I'll go unlock that tower tomorrow," she said softly.

He looked up from the ground cautiously to see another tower piercing the sky a couple kilometres down the road. And when he looked beyond the tower, he could see the faint, orange glow of deactivated shrines on the distant twin mountains. "I can go with you too. It would dangerous to go alone," he tried to muster up all the strength he had.

"It's dangerous to go alone, so I should take you? Not a chance, Lucky Buck," his partner scoffed sternly as she began to take the camping equipment out of the bag. "Cut the Cucco shit, you're afraid of heights and it's because of what happen when we were climbin' up the plateau. And it's my fault." Despite her front, Phillip could still see through to the emotions she was trying to hide.

"Aye, you are right, I'm deathly afraid of heights and it is a very new development, but you need to stop blaming yourself. Not only because it will hinder us, but also because I sure as hell don't blame you for what happened, it was an accident waiting to happen," he answered sombrely. Deep down though, he knew that he would be the one holding her back if he tried to climb the tower with her.

"Anyway, you should save up your courage for when we go to clear the shrines on those mountains later this week," Tori chirped in her usual upbeat tone.

He shivered at the thought of being up that high again, "Maybe you're right. Either which way, I have a meal to prepare because I want early lights out tonight." Taking that as his cue, he to collect kindling for the campfire.

However, Tori had other plans, as she stopped him with a hug from behind, "Not so fast, Lucky Buck. It has been one hell of a day for the both of us, we're in need for a special Gerudo dish to end it on a high note. You may be an amazing cook, no doubt about it, but you stand no chance against the old family campfire recipe that has been passed down the Wilt family for generations!" A glint in her eye told that there was something more to what she had planned, and it worried Phillip for what was about to happen.

After building a sufficient fire with a supplementary stock of fuel to cook dinner, the young swordsman went about the normal duties of building camp, such as setting up defences, securing fresh water, repairing equipment, and doing laundry. Every once in a while, he would check in from his laborious tasks to see what sort of concoction Tori was preparing that could be so amazing.

By dusk, the chilly weather of mid-Autumn had set in and Phillip was ready to jump into his bedroll next to the fire for the night. With all the chores finished, Tori served two strange dishes that were comprised of her rice from her stash and hot peppers that they had picked on the Great Plateau.

"Dishes up! The Wilt family special rice and curry, spicy edition! Don't worry though, it's not as spicy as I usually make it so it won't destroy your taste buds," the Gerudo warrior called out in triumph.

Just turning in the direction of the kitchen filled his nostrils with the tantalising scent of numerous spices wafting through the air. "It certainly smells amazing, so it must be good," Phillip complemented while picking his own bowl.

"Well it is the only dish I can make without burning it to crisps."

The last statement made him nervous, but it was too late as he put the first spoon full of the rice and curry into his hungry maw, instantly regretting taking on so much at one time as it felt like his mouth filled with fire. He rushed to find his water skin the moment he finished the single spoon full, only to find that it did not help in the least bit. Despite the burning sensation in his mouth, the flavour of the dish managed to reach his taste buds and whispered the truth of the meal. At the hint of such an intoxicating flavour, he could not stop himself from finishing the rest of the dish, ignoring how unaccustomed he was to the level of spiciness.

 _How could something so painful also be so delicious?_ He thought to himself as he downed the last portion. Looking up from the empty bowl, he took notice of Tori laughing out of control at how the spicy meal caused his cheeks to become extremely flushed along with profuse sweating.

"It gets everyone on their first try!" she managed to say between fits of laughter. "I can tell you liked it, but no more. Any more and you would hurt yourself with the reaction you just displayed!" But she proceeded to serve herself a second helping of the divine hellfire of a dish.

Giving a glare in return, Phillip moved on to clean up the kitchen and his mess kit before it got any darker. "Hey, Victoria?" he addressed his partner while she finished her meal.

"Stick with callin' me Tori," she answered between bites.

Noting that for later use, "Thank you for everything that you've done for me, not just today, but with this whole journey and leaving your old life to follow me on my crazy quest. I know that we are nowhere near being done, but looking back now, I don't think I could have made it this far without you to watch my back and to keep me company." He did not have any ulterior motive for giving such high regards to her, it was something that he had wanted to get off his chest for a while.

She stood up to wash her mess kit before answering, "If you're going to kiss up to me that much, you might as well get over so you can give me a good and proper one," she joked, hiding a nervous blush.

"I'm not trying to get anything from you, I just want to let you know that you are the closest to a friend that is more than just a fellow soldier training for the reconquest of Hyrule. We may have known each other for about a week, but I feel I can trust you with my life, and I'm glad to get to spend who knows how long this journey will take with you," he spoke honestly as he finished scrubbing his bowl.

"You are such a dork, you know?" the golden-eyed warrior chuckled. "But you're my dork partner, so you can get away with it." She then caught Phillip off guard by ruffling his crimson hair into a mess. "I trust you with my life too, so don't go throwin' it away or you will have hell to pay."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he attempted to try and fix the mess.

His partner smirked at achievement before finishing up her chores. The vibrant gold in her eyes struck him once more, reminding him of the first time that he saw her, and he still saw her as being beautiful beyond compare. He did not have a shred of belief in fate, it was full of shit and only those that feared freedom to control their future believed in it, but he did believe that he had extremely good luck to have met such an amazing person to join his journey. _I just hope that I don't let her down or lose this trust_ , he thought as he mindlessly wandered back to the campfire.

"Lights out Lucky Buck. Saving the world requires a good night's worth of sleep." The striking woman gave a flirtatious wink before slipping into her bedroll.

 _I definitely am a lucky bastard_ , he thought before his head hit his pillow.

It took a week to get past the Dueling Peaks, as the new map piece from the tower called the twin mountains, but it was worth spending the extra time, not that they were really on a specific time limit. The next day was not even spent climbing the tower to get the map, but rather it was used to hunting down Lizalfos that would harass them any time Victoria attempted to clear the tower. Eventually, the two adventurers tracked down their harassers and ended up slaughtering a small warband of the lizard monsters that were hoarding a depot of foodstuffs that appeared to be intended to supply an army of monsters. A manifest written in primitive Hylian script revealed the stocked quantities and transport destinations that must have been monster outposts.

Lest to say more, the manifest was a jackpot of information that even surprised Victoria on how organised the marauders of Hyrule were. They then took the supplies they needed and all other documents as evidence for future reference before setting the whole base and depot ablaze. The arson of the fort prevented such a bountiful reserve of provisions from reaching the hands of their enemies as well as it sent a threatening message to them, that Hyrule was not to be messed with.

On the next morning, Victoria swiftly climbed the tower without hindrance, activated the waypoint, and returned safely with an updated map to share. Having completed that task, the two adventurers travelled on to the Dueling Peaks so they could find the shrines waited to be cleared. The first shrine was an easy thirty metres climb up the cliff and was simple enough to clear with two minds devising solutions in coordination, so they were able to retrieve their spirit orbs from the Sheikah monk in an hour. However, the other two shrines were such a hassle that they nearly gave up before they found an old mountain goat trail the led them to the summit, albeit scraped up bruised by the treacherous path.

The difficulty of getting to those shrines was nothing in comparison to the infuriating mystery that was the twin shrines. They were almost identical in their contents, and both had vague signs that alluded to how one shrine needed the other to be completed and vice versa. It was a mystery that would aggravate the two adventures and have them jumping between the two peaks investigating for clues for three days. By luck, Phillip discovered an application on the slate that captured an exact replica of the scene that he pointed the 'camera' at and pressed the button on the screen. Shortly after the discovery, they were able to piece together that they could take pictures of the orb arrangements on the floor of each shrine so they can arrange the same pattern in the other, which cleared both shrines.

After mustering all the strength that he could, Phillip joined Tori in the quicker method of using their paragliders to get down into the river canyon between the peaks. To their surprise, they were met by a caravan of traders heading to the Dueling Peaks settlement on the other side of the canyon who gladly let them tag along. Two traders in particular took interest in the adventurers by competing to sell their wares.

"Don't listen to this woman, she's a thief! She's always stealing my customers and she must have stolen my secret mode of transportation because she is always popping up wherever I go to trade!" a dark-skinned, big-nosed man with a giant, beetle shaped pack complained to Phillip. "Beedle's wares are the best in the country, you should buy from me, not this thief!"

A pale skinned, red-haired girl, who wore clothing fit for vagabond more than a merchant, scoffed at the man's remarks from where she walked beside Tori. "I have never met this man before we joined this caravan, he must have met one of my many sisters because we all look alike. And I, Anna the merchant, am not a thief, a liberator of unclaimed goods sometimes, but I am a true merchant that offers the best wares for both good quality and fair prices," the slender woman rebuked her verbal attacker. In just a short time, Phillip had figured Anna out to be a whimsical and playful woman that cared deeply about her gold and quality trade, but he could tell she was hiding an ulterior motive behind her travels with a certain companion when she spoke of them.

Their bickering over the prospective customers had gone on since the day before with no change in the dialogue of their insults or advertisements for wares. But whenever they got in these fights, Anna's companion, a young man with green hair and blue armour named Alm, would join the two adventurers to get them away from the merchants.

Alm was about seventeen and was traveling with Anna to find his way home after getting lost during a fight with a great dragon. He often looked depressed when he was alone, but when he was working with the rest of the caravan, he was always kind and ready to take on his share of the workload. The boy also showed great skill with a sword in the few times he picked up sparring with Phillip and Victoria, though he could never gain the upper hand against either of them. As a surprise to the two, such a young kid carried what he claimed to be a legendary sword named 'Falchion.'

"You both have bigger fish to fry than some squabbling merchants, with trying to save the world and all," the young man led them to catch up with the moving caravan and passed to the front. "We're better suited for scouting ahead and guarding the caravan anyway."

"What about the rear, shouldn't at least one of us defend it?" Phillip asked as he eyed the two arguing merchants that were somehow keeping pace.

"Ha, you saw the bow and sword Anna was carrying, she can certainly hold her own in a fight. She's even kicked my ass in half of the sparring matches that we have fought," Alm chuckled confidently. "Beedle isn't that bad himself either when it comes to defending himself."

The trio continued in silence, keeping their eyes on the ridgeline and the river parallel to the road for signs of ambush. Phillip knew that an attack was coming, there were monsters watching them from behind boulders and the occasional lizard-like creature could be seen scurrying on the banks of the far side of the river. It was a matter of time before the ambush was sprung, and he could see Victoria, Alm, and a few of the more experienced merchants tightening their grips on their weapons. Unlike the previous major battles that he had fought in Hyrule, he could not tell the exact numbers of the waiting assailants, but he could tell they were smart enough to strategize a flank on the river side.

"Do you have any plans for what's about to go down, Lucky Buck, because I have a few ideas," Tori whispered to her partner without taking her eyes off the river.

Seeing the direction in which some of the hiding monsters were shirking in, he could tell that the main attack was going to come head on when they reached the mouth of the canyon. He took a quick count of the armed merchants that he had at his command before unveiling his strategy, "Alm, send the archers to Anna to defend our rear and give us ranged support. Then you and Tori will take a dozen merchants to defend the riverside flank while the remaining twenty will stay with me to face the brunt of the attack. Understood?"

"Aye, understood!" the two listeners nodded in agreement.

"We need the unarmed merchants to keep the caravan moving forward until the attack comes, just so the enemy doesn't get suspicious," Tori added.

"Keep defence formations tight, you don't want any stragglers getting behind your lines," He inserted before breaking their semi-huddle.

Alm and Tori went their ways throughout the caravan, spreading the word and selecting the conscripts for each front of the coming battle. Phillip could see it in the faces of the militias that joined him in the lead and the manner that they gripped their weapons with experienced hands: the people that remained in Hyrule were a hardened society, forged by wild and harsh nature of their land. Phillip was an experienced fighter as an individual, but when it came to leading a regiment, he had better skill with firmly disciplined soldiers than a assortment of militiamen.

 _This will have to do for now, but it's more than likely that they have an extremely overwhelming force if they are willing to take on a group of our size_ , he thought to himself. _I probably should have kept Victoria with me to watch my back, but I need someone to watch over Alm and see how he leads_. He hadn't explained that idea to her at all, but by the look on her face he knew that she understood Phillip's reasoning for not having her by his side.

"Ye seem like the experienced soldier, eh?" voiced the elder head trader that accompanied Phillip. "What be yer orders, capt'n?"

He surveyed the assorted equipment and formulated a simple strategy, "Those of us with shields will form two ranks of shield walls to blockade the narrow path, and you four with polearms shall guard our flanks from the river. When I call for a switch, the second rank shall replace the first, giving the first a reprieve before the next switch. Understood?"

"Aye, captain!" the unit assented in their various nonuniformed dialects.

Even as the irregulars moved into an acceptable version of his planned formation, he still did not count on the manoeuvre working for long considering that they lacked the weeks of drilling a professional army would have. He unslung the liberated kite shield from his back onto his left forearm and drew his wakizashi, which he knew would be more controllable one-handed than the lengthy katana.

"So, do ambushes like this occur frequently in Hyrule," he asked as he joined next to old trader in the first trader.

"Aye, they do," the old man answered. He may have been old, but his eyes were sharply focused on watching the river and the canyon mouth. "Hyrule is jus' too vast an' the number o' monsters have grown too much for the Sheikah an' Hylian army to suppress ev'ry pocket o' the beasts. If all o' you in exile would return, the settlements an' cities could keep better garrisons to keep things safer."

Phillip laughed shyly. The leadership of the exiles in Holodrum would never return unless they were certain they could take the power of the kingdom for themselves. It was obvious that those who remained in Hyrule had just as little knowledge of what was going on with the exiles as the refugees had of what was going on in Hyrule. "Yeah, if only they would," he said, preparing for the assault that would happen at any moment.

"Look, captain! The river!" one of the irregulars drew his attention to several dozen Lizalfos that were crossing the river in the direction of Victoria and Alm's unit.

He could see that the two commanders were manoeuvring their troops as quickly as possible to respond to the oncoming attackers. What worried Phillip more was the overwhelming wave of Bokoblins and Moblins that rounded the corner into the canyon, he couldn't begin to count how many there were.

"Ah hell," he muttered, raising his shield and wakizashi. "Brace yourselves!"

The silver Moblin that led the pack suddenly collapsed with blood spurting from where an arrow had nailed it straight in the eye. Phillip took a quick glance to see Anna standing on a wagon with the other archers fitting a new arrow onto her silver bow. This death did nothing to stop the unstoppable tide as it slammed into the shield wall blocking the path.

He pushed back on his first attacker with his shield and slashed in a downward strike, getting a gurgling crunch in response. Looking to find the next, he blocked an overhead club swing and struck an undefended belly before cutting outward and cleaving a third Bokoblin to add to the bloody mess. In the blink of an eye, he withdrew his sword and parried a sword strike meant for his compatriot, but an arrow finished the monster off. He could care less; his mind was focused in dodging the next attack and striking back.

It had been discovered before at the battle for the supply depot, but he felt stronger than ever since he had used those spirit orbs at the shrine of Hylia, and that extra time spent on the plateau was paying off. This new style of fighting with a shield severely limited his movement comparatively, but the boosted strength from the spirit orbs made it possible to block heftier blows and deal heavier strikes.

"Switch!" he called over the din of combat after what seemed like an eternity, but probably only twenty minutes. The entire first rank, minus the adventurer, managed to retreat behind the second shield wall as it pushed back the confused enemy and trampled over the Bokoblins that were tripped by the renewed push. If they were regular soldiers that wore hobnailed boots, this tactic could have proven lethal to the enemy, but the recovering first rank substituted by finishing off the victims.

The many years of fighting experience in the merchants almost proved to be as effective as heavily drilled discipline in regular soldiers, but after nearly an hour, the strength in the untrained merchants waned significantly. They were all soaked with blood, both their own and that of the numerous dead monsters that littered the canyon floor and river shallows, that began to sap their strength even quicker as the cooling temperatures of evening encroached them. By this point, Anna had long since run out of arrows and had joined the fray next to Phillip as a quick and mobile combatant, almost similar to himself.

His physical reserves of energy felt like it was slowly draining, but his mind was even further fatigued by the constant calculations of the battle's tide along with the over-extended watch he kept on the militias under his command. 'Who was tiring out? How long since the last switch? Were his flank defences holding up?' were all the questions that flowed in and out of his brain, even when he was distracted by foes more powerful than others.

To Phillip's surprise, the formation had lasted past the first hour with only minor injuries inflicted on his allies, but as the first rank began to retreat on the fifth switch, an eager Moblin charged forward and smashed the skull of the old merchant with a sickening crack of an overhead club-swing and a spray of the crimson gore. A quick glance away kept the adventurer from being too shocked by the gruesome death, but it caught the attention of his allies and the monsters excited by the first Hylian casualty.

"Hold firm, soldiers! Victory is in sight!" He called to reign in their morale, but it was too late. A young man took a pike thrust to his abdomen and a middle-aged woman caught a sword swipe to the throat, both collapsed to the dirt in bloody messes but snapped the stupor of the other militias.

Reforming the formation was a lost cause as the battle shifted into a full out brawl with no distinct battle lines. Phillip abandoned his shield in favour of his more flexible and deadly duel-wielding fighting style to become a flurry of death and chaos to the diminishing enemy force. Surprisingly, Anna joined in his flurry of blades in a unique manner, slipping across his blindside to strike an enemy or parry a blow. It was almost like she was an extension of his fighting style or a defence system on his back, showing how close in proximity she moved with Phillip.

Wave after wave flooded against their fragmented ranks, but their depleted strength could not push them back as they continued to surrender ground. As he slashed and hacked his way across the frontline with his shadow in a whirlwind of blades and blood, he could see the number of their enemies dwindling but there was no end to their fervour and battle rage. All that he could do was fight until the monsters were all slain and hope his allies survived to the end. These thoughts began to fade into a distant corner of Philip's mind as they were changed for primal instincts of any field of battle. The number of the monsters that fell beneath his blade grew beyond count, but did little to dissuade the next Bokoblin or Moblin that tried to challenge him. His ferociousness and that of his shadow cleaved a path directly into the body of the enemy force, boosting the morale of the Hylians with the sight of such a powerful fighter as their ally.

All the battles and skirmishes that he had fought in Hyrule were obviously nothing in comparison to the sheer scale of violence, bloodshed, and ferocity that surrounded and engaged the young swordsman. The sight of hundreds of monster corpses would have brought the taste of bile to anyone's mouth if not vomit itself, but it only dredged up the memories of being a soldier for Phillip. Bodies of monsters became replaced with the twisted, mangled, bloody corpses of Hylian and Holodrum rebels numbering almost in the thousands as he picked his way across the smouldering battlefield. Black, soulless eyes became replaced with the blue or brown coloured ones of his countrymen as he clashed with them endlessly. The narrow canyon path transformed into a vast battlefield occupied with the rage of a waning battle that all seemed so reminiscent of a nightmarish reality that lingered in the mind of the swordsman.

Blood dripped down the curved blade of his katana and mixed with the rain that fell from the overcast sky filled with smoke and a sickening metallic taste. So much blood tarnished the family sword that he still could not wash all the stains seven years after the rebellion that disenfranchised him from the cause he fought so hard for. He was a marked man to all of those that lived in Holodrum, the government labelled him a human weapon to be saved for later use, his teacher called him a ronin after his discharge, and his family whispered of how he no longer belonged in the family of noble knights.

He sank to his knees, surrounded by the carnage of that day's battle as the images from his memory faded and the rainy, overcast sky dissipated to be replaced by the clear setting sun in the west. There was no strength left in his muscles to move away from the scene of horror he caused, nor the voice to call for help from his allies. All he wanted to do was forget like he did before and not have to live with the memories of his past. He would have cried with the return of such dreadful memories, yet he was filled with self-hate and despair for the events long since passed.

A pale, blood-stained pair of arms wrapped themselves around Phillip's shoulders and chest, drawing his drifting mind back into reality. They pulled him closer to the warm body of a woman with red hair that brushed against his blood-spattered face. "Dread not the events of the past, young hero," her soothing voice washed away his feelings of wretchedness. "You may have been forced into terrible acts long ago, but all has been forgiven by Hylia and the Divine Dragon, Naga. You must accept that what is in the past is in the past and learn to forgive yourself if you are to face the future and fight for a cause we all need you to lead. It is not something fated for you, but I believe you are just the hero that I have looking for to save all the worlds."

The words that Anna spoke almost made no sense, however, they were able to root Phillip back to the reality that surrounded him and Anna who continued to hold onto him. It was obvious that the battle had been a victory with merchants going about treating wounds, sorting the spoils of war, and preparing a funeral pyre for the fallen. He managed a weak chuckle when he thought of how considerate monsters were to dissolve and turn into ether after a short time, leaving less of a mess to clean up.

As he took in more of what was going on around him, he caught sight of Victoria standing by a wagon as she treated a laceration on Alm's forehead. The Gerudo warrior was glaring daggers at the red-haired woman that was holding onto her partner and caring for him rather than herself attending the matter. _I have to make sure she's alright_ , he thought to himself, but he could not find the strength to lift himself off the ground.

His struggling immediately caught the attention of the warrior merchant, "Thank the gods, you've calmed down. Come on, Phil, we need to get cleaned up, these clothes are ruined." Anna practically dragged him back to her carriage before proceeding to strip off both of their top layers without his permission, not that she left room for argument. When she pulled off his chainmail he felt relief flood into his burdened shoulders along with some mobility.

"I think you can do the rest. I'll treat you to some discounted clothing afterwards," Anna ruffled his hair before moving to the river to strip down to her undergarments, not a care in the world for who saw her.

"Y-you didn't have to do this for me," he managed through a blush as he undressed to his smallclothes to join in washing his own blood-stained skin in the cold river water.

She chuckled with her usual impetuous nature, easing the stressful air of the interaction. "Of course I had to, I couldn't leave the hero I've been looking for out there in such a state. Plus, seeing Tori's reaction was priceless. Those Gerudo women are so dominating, they hate seeing their possessions in the hands of another woman."

It took a second for Phillip to realize what she was obviously implying about the two adventurers' relationship. "I'm not her po-" a devious grin from Anna cut him off. He conceded the argument and continued thoroughly to cleanse the filthy cracks between his fingers. "You mentioned it earlier and just now, but what do you mean by me being the hero that you have been looking for?"

"Ah, now that is the real question to ask," she replied. The buxom yet well-toned woman moved away from the shoreline to her wagon once more, ignoring all the gawks she received from all the male merchants. He followed her to get the answer he was asking for, only to have a bundle of dark green clothing and boots thrown into his face. "Here, found these relics a while back, apparently, they once belonged to a hero that fought the monsters of twilight, and I will gladly sell them to you at the friend discount of two thousand rupees," she smiled with the eagerness for a profit.

Phillip choked at the staggering price, but nodded in agreement for the much-needed apparel. "Thanks, Anna," he examined the assortment of clothes. A few minutes later, he was dressed in a two-layered, forest green tunic, a wolf-fur lined, grey trousers, hardened leather vambrace-gloves, sturdy boots, and a pointed green cap. Anna had insisted that he wore the cap, even though it had a strong wolf smell like the rest of the outfit. Green was not really his colour, but the outfit surprisingly fit him, so he could not complain about what he was given.

"Now to answer your question," Anna addressed him, now wearing an exact replica of her vagabond get-up from before. "The world that you know and live in is just one in a million mortal out-realms that have been caught in the middle of an eternal conflict between the Heavens and the Hells, the forces of Light and Dark, the gods and devils, or whatever you wish to call them," she paused to let that sink in but refused to let him interject.

"One hundred years ago, that conflict escalated for the worse and broke out into the out-realms, spreading the influence and minions of the demon lords to important worlds like Hyrule. So, my sisters and I have been tasked by Hylia, Naga, and Tyrael to seek out Nephalem, immensely strong beings, that could be the key to tipping the scales of the war."

It was a lot to take in, and hardly believable to someone as secular as the swordsman, "If they are all real, then why have they failed to come and defeat Ganon? And why have these dark forces failed to do whatever they desire with our world if this has been going on for the last hundred years?" His disbelief was not unwarranted, and he meant it as a challenge to see what her response would be.

However, Anna seemed ready for his challenge. "Well, all the forces of light, including Hylia, were recalled back to the Heavens to concentrate their power. Beside Zelda containing Ganon all this time, the delay of our plunge into darkness was set back by a band of heroes almost seventeen years ago," she took a moment to pick up her broadsword and wipe it clean with a spare rag.

"So, you think I'm one of these Nephalem that can turn that can turn the tide in a heavenly conflict that happens to be eternal? Not that I believe any of this bullshit," he derided her claims. He did not mean to be rude, but what she was saying was pretty outlandish.

She merely shrugged as she fastened her equipment belt and sheathed her cleaned broadsword. "It doesn't matter now whether you believe or not, but you will once we defeat Ganon. We have a lot of work to do, a long way to travel, and a lot of gold to make!" Anna nodded in agreement with herself, then leered over at the now dressed Phillip. "You truly fit the image of a hero, just don't forget to clean your chainmail and slip it between the layers of the tunic."

Phillip was honestly not surprised that Anna wanted to join his quest to save to save Hyrule, but the least she could have done was ask first. "I get a new companion, once again without my consent?" he asked rhetorically. He checked the time on his Sheikah slate, it was just after seven, and slipped it onto his belt along with his blades and the magic satchel.

"Alm too," the merchant woman added. "He says that he's following me to find his home, but he knows just as well as I do that the home he is trying to get back to, or at least the time, no longer exists." She let that morbid fact settle before gesturing for the swordsman to follow. "Let's go, the troops need some leadership right about now."

Nodding in agreement, he trailed behind her to the road-turned-battlefield littered with hundreds of disintegrating monster corpses. The old merchant's second in command informed him that six merchants were killed between both fronts, and that it was a surprisingly low number considering the numbers of the enemy force. They would hold funerals for the fallen once they were finished scouring the battlefield and cleaning themselves. Tomorrow, they would send letters back to their families via Rito mail and return their fair portion of the profits when the caravan returned home a few months later.

Phillip could tell by the pained look on the visage of the new leader that he lost good friends that day, but knew that the survivors would have been drawn closer together to support each other. He had no doubt that such a hardy people like the Hylians could rough out the worst that was thrown at them.

Soon enough, Victoria made her way to the side of her partner and checked every bit of him for any wounds that could have been hiding. "You had me so worried with the way you were just sitting out there. Are you alright? What were you talking about with Anna over by the river? Why were you so underdressed?" the concerned Gerudo warrior overwhelmed him with a flurry of questions.

He raised a hand to stop her rampage of inquiries, "I'm fine, a bit sore and mentally exhausted, but fine all the same. And I'll tell you what we were talking about later, it was pretty weird, or she can tell you herself since she and Alm are going to be joining us on our quest to save Hyrule."

Tori glanced in shock at the now smug Anna who was pilfering the wallets and quivers left behind by the monsters. She grimaced briefly, then embraced her partner in a tight hug, "At least you are alright," she chuckled softly, "As long as you are intent on saving the world, I don't think we will ever stop having these close encounters with death."

"Not a chance of stopping that now," he returned the embrace. Looking to the side, Phillip could see that Anna had lost her smug grin and had moved on to checking on Alm.

The rest of the night was mostly a blur, between the sombre event of burning the funeral pyres and setting up a hasty campsite. They barely scrounged up a basic meal to fill everyone before setting up a guard shift and passing out from the day's built up exhaustion. Tori had made sure to keep a distance between their sleeping spot and Anna's, but Phillip did not think much of it, he just wanted to sleep.

They stayed the next night at the inn of the Dueling Peaks settlement, a quaint town over a bridge on the river and it had its own shrine, which Phillip and Victoria showed their new companions as they easily completed it and retrieved their spirit orbs. On the day after that, the new group of adventurers resupplied their gear in the satchel and went their separate way from the caravan, heading north towards Kakariko city.

As the band of adventurers passed under another torii into the heart of the city, Phillip could only say that he was shocked by the stark difference between this urban epicentre and the rest of the rural countryside. He had probably seen a couple hundred people between the two settlements and dozens of farms that he had passed since entering Hyrule, but this valley city was probably large enough to boast thousands of residents. Through their walk to the city centre, most of the people they saw were of the Sheikah tribe, sporting white hair and tanned skin, but there was a small number of Hylians and other races that they noticed in pockets. Though the hubbub of the trading market gave a sense of familiarity to all of them, as the conduct of trade never seemed to differ in any major way anywhere one could find the gathering of people with excess goods.

However, the city centre that the four arrived at was pretty basic, with the main avenue passing between a shrine to Hylia and an oriental styled palace complex, both complete with more torii gates guarding the entrances. However, the palace had an additional pair of shinobi flanking both sides of the stairwell that lead up to the doors.

It did not take long for the guards to notice the band of foreigners that stuck out like a sore thumb. "Hey, you there," the one on the right called out. "Those are Sheikah slates that you have there on your belts?"

Victoria and Phillip both instinctively looked down at their slates then back at the guards and nodded silently.

"Well, don't just stand there, c'mon in, the elder has been expecting someone with a Sheikah slate. Well, I guess she didn't really specify if it was just one or not, so you all should just come along," the shinobi fumbled about his orders. He then gestured for the adventurers to go up the stairs.

"We shouldn't turn down such a warm welcome, let's go!" Alm naively took the lead up the steps, but the group followed after him warily.

The doors creaked open after a hard push by Alm to reveal a dimly lit room that automatically gave off a traditional feel with its throne-room-like interior design. In one corner of the room was a glowing orange sphere that seemed out of place for the room, but what won the attention of all the new occupants of the entry hall was an ancient woman kneeling on a pillow on the dais. It was obvious that age had shrunken her from her height of youth, and, paired with weathered, wrinkled skin, her guise betrayed that she was probably the oldest person alive.

"Oh, what a surprise!" the old woman remarked in a hoarse voice as she raised her head from a resting position. "You are definitely not who I was expecting to arrive, but I think you will have to do. I can't be too picky in desperate times like these. But I have to say, the princess sure is scheming an awful lot for being trapped with Ganon. Yes, you all look to be perfect for finishing the mission that we failed in completing oh so long ago."

"Excuse me, ma'am," Phillip interjected, halting a few metres before the dais with his companions, "but would you happen to be the great Sheikah warrior, Impa?"

She chuckled heartily for an old woman at his address, "Aye, that would be me, the Guardian of Princess Zelda, Impa of the Sheikah."

 **A/N: Yeah, I know that was a dirty cliff-hanger, but it felt like a good point to leave it at. So was that a whole lot of information to take in? Yes, yes it was. Did this just become a crossover? Well, I had already planned on this since the beginning, but I guess the answer is yes. However, the major crossover points aren't really that important until much, much later on. There are two franchises so far that have become part of the crossover, and if you can't tell what at least one of them is, what the hell have you been doing as a Nintendo fan. Either which way, thank you for sticking with me thus far, please don't forget to favourite and follow if you like this fanfiction. Leave reviews for what you would like to see improve in the story or just how you felt about it. Until next time, stay Unexpected! Chapter five is underway!**


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